LECTURE 3 / 22 OCTOBER 2009

Beauty of Loulan and the Tarim Basin During Han China
I. Geography of the Western Regions
• Hexi Corridor
• Junggar Basin (between Altay Mountain and Tian Shan)
• Tarim Basin (between Tian Shan and Kunlun Mountain; Taklamakan Desert and the oases)
• Ili River (emptying into Lake Balkash)
• Fergana Valley (north of the Pamir Plateau)
• Transaxiana (east of the Aral Sea; between Syr Darya and Amu Darya)
II. After Zhang Qian’s Missions
• Han China seized the initiative and forced Xiong-nu to split into two groups.
• One group moved south and integrated in the Han population.
• The main body of Xiong-nu fled westward, displacing peoples on their way, driving some of them further west, ultimately causing Germanic tribes to invade Roman territories in Western Europe.
III. Early Settlers in Tarim Basin
Tocharians
• Tocharians (a term given by European scholars) moved into Junggar Basin before 2000 BCE; Indo-Europeans who spoke a western dialect, akin to the languages spoken by Celts, Hittites and Greeks.
• By contrast, Persians and Aryans who invaded India around 1500 BCE spoke an eastern Indo-European dialect (even though they were located to the west of the Tocharians), .
• Credited with bringing wheat to East Asia.
B. Scythians (Sakas)
• Scythians spoke an Iranian language, were an early group of Indo-Europeans who wandered on the Eurosian steppes. .
• Some migrated south and became settled farmers; the majority practiced pastoralism.
• They were known as Scythians, Sakas and Saizhong, by ancient Greeks, Persians and Chinese.
• First to domesticate the horse and to fight on the horseback.

REMARK: Tocharians and Scythians were the early settlers in Junggar and Tarim basins.

The Yue-Chi’s
• Yue-Chi’s were a Tocharian group which populated the Hexi Corridor, Qaidam basin and Junggar basin.
• They interacted with the Qiang group, speakers of a Sino-Tibetan language and related to Tibetans.
• Yue-Chi’s were driven out of Hexi Corridor by Xiong-nu and moved successively to the Ili River area, the Fergana Valley, Transaxiana, Bactria and Gandhara.
• A sub-group of Yue-Chi had populated the eastern part of the Tarim basin when Xiong-nu became powerful in the Western Regions.
IV. Hexi Corridor and the Oases States in Today’s Xinjiang During West Han
A. Administrative measures by Han dynasty
• Along the 1200 km Hexi Corridor, Han set up four counties with four garrison towns which were also centers of trade and cultural exchange.
• This administrative structure has remained for more than 2000 years.
• Han dynasty also extended its power in the Junggar and Tarim basins, stationed soldiers in key locations and constructed walls and beacon towers throughout the region.
• Han took Loulan in the east and Fergana in the west by force and established suzerainty throughout the Western Region, requiring each state to send a prince to Chang’an as a guarantee of its allegiance to Han.
• Since Xiong-nu was no longer a major player in the region, and since trade flourished between Han and these states, most of the oases states were under Han domination.
• Rebellion sometimes broke out, usually when there was internal turmoil in China proper.
V. Ban Chao and His Exploits
• Ban Chao (32-102 CE), from a prominent family, chose to be a soldier rather than a court official; he was sent to the Western Regions in 73 CE as the leader of a 36-man elite force.
• This elite force took daring and decisive actions in subduing adversaries and showed diplomatic skills in dealing with the various states on the oases in the Tarim Basin.
• Ban Chao subsequently worked to fend off occasional incursions of Xiong-nu and Yue-chi into these states, enforcing Han’s control over the Western Region and ensuring passage of the trade routes.
• In 97 EC, he sent an associate, Gan Ying, to visit the Roman Empire, but Gan Ying only reached the Persian Gulf. His report was interesting and useful.
• After serving in the Western Regions for nearly 30 years, Ban Chao pleaded with the emperor to allow him to return. But his plea was ignored.
• After his sister risked her own life to plea on his behalf, he was finally allowed to return home and died shortly after.
• Later his son Ban Yong was appointed to the same post and made further gains for Han Dynasty.
• It was about this period that Buddhism came to central China from the Tarim Basin.
VI. Loulan Kingdom
• Loulan was the eastern-most oasis state among dozens of small states ringing the Tarim Basin. Travelers from China proper must rest in Loulan before going forward.
• Its strategic location made it a center of commerce and a meeting point of different cultures.
• Due to shifting and drying of the river near it, Loulan became submerged under the sand around 1200 CE.
• However, many earlier Chinese poems made references to Loulan in romantic terms.
• The British archeologist Stein made two expeditions in early 20th century into the Lop Nor area and discovered the Loulan site, taking away many documents written in different languages, including Tocharian, Chinese and Khotan.
• Because of its geo-political importance, also due to the reputed beauty of Loulan girls, many rulers of the Tarim states took Loulan women as wives.
• Chinese archeologists found toward the end of 20th century many more artifacts at the Loulan site which demonstrate the multi-cultural character of Loulan as well as its close relationship with China proper.
VII. Shule Kingdom
• On a large oasis at the western edge of the Tarim Basin, with Fergana Valley lying just to the northwest of the Pamirs .
• Important to Han’s position in the Western Region, hence there were Han soldiers and civilians in Shule to ensure its allegiance.
• Sometimes under Xiong-nu threat but never conquered by them.
• Later known as Kashgar, always under the cultural influences of Persia, India and China
VIII. Yutian (Khotan) Kingdom
• At the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, just north of Kunlun Mountain
• Rich in high-quality jade and an important supplier to China for over 4000 years
• Residents were descendents of Scythians, with some Qiang elements
• Close-ties with Han and a major conduit by which Buddhism entered China
IX. Niya Kingdom
• Recorded in Chinese history books in detail, but no trace of it in recent centuries
• Stein made efforts to unearth it without success
• In 1994, a combined Chinese-Japanese team discovered its precise site and made extensive investigations
• Many treasures were found, among which is an embroidered elbow pad with Chinese characters and animals or legendary animals of Persia and Africa

READINGS

Maps - PDF at Hisar Copy Center

"China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization" at Hisar Copy Center

“The History and Civilization of China” - PDF at Hisar Copy Center

“World Civilizations: The Global Experience”, Peter N. Stearns - Library Online Course Reserve - Course Code HIST 105

“Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past”, Jerry Bently and Herbert Ziegler - PDF at Hisar Copy Center

LECTURE 1 / 8 OCTOBER 2009

Overall Perspective

A. The Eurasian Continent
•The Eurasian continent is a contiguous landmass comprising some 55 million square kilometers or 3/5 of the total land area of the earth.
•A line drawn from the northeast corner of the Eurasian continent (northern part of Kamchatka Peninsula) southwestward to the southwest part of Arabian Peninsula (Aden) divides the landmass into two triangles.
•The lower triangle is warm and humid, with an annual precipitation of over 500 mm; this area contains some of the best agricultural zones of the world.
•The base of the upper triangle is generally dry and consists mostly of steppes and deserts; this area is mostly for herding or animal husbandry.
•North to the steppes are vast areas of coniferous forest; this area is mostly for hunting.
B. Comparison of the Eurasian Continent with the Americas, Africa and Australia
•Very large land areas spreading over mild weather zones of roughly similar weather patterns. Easier to communicate between East and West than between North and South.
•The availability of large animals that can be domesticated.
C. Routes of Exchanges Across the Continent
•East-West Exchanges: To the north, a “steppe route” used by the nomadic peoples; to the south, a “sea route” used by the coastal seafarers; in the middle, an “oasis route”, used by the agricultural peoples.
•North-South Exchanges: Orhon River to Chang’an, a main trade route between the nomadic tribes and the farming people along the Yellow River; from Tibet to the Tarim Basin and further north to the Junggar Basin; from Central Asia down to Afghanistan and then to India; from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to Anatolia, Astrakhan etc.; Constantinople (Istanbul) south to the Mediterranean and Egypt and north to the Black Sea, thus East and North Europe.
•These networks of communications have allowed from very ancient times the exchanges of goods, social practices and ideas.
D. Means and Effects of Exchange
•Exchange among different groups are natural in human experience. These contacts have resulted in racial and cultural integration for the most part. The exchanges sometimes take the form of war, but mostly through peaceful means.
•However, wars have been effective catalysts for cultural adaptation and integration.
•The peoples in the East first developed a very sophisticated civilization, including technologies, sciences, social institutions and writing systems; these were adopted and integrated by the Greeks in the West.
•Alexander the Great was a product and a symbol of the Greek civilization; his expedition to the East brought a further integration and fusion of these two types of culture. Philip II (382–336 B.C.E.) of Macedonia unified Greece and decided to conquer the East. His son Alexander continued his unfulfilled ambition by leading a Greek-Macedonian army to the East.

I. Persian Empire

II. Classical Greece

III. Wars between Persia and Greece

IV. Alexander the Great and His Eastern Thrust




Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World

Ptolemy’s Rule of Egypt
* Ptolemaic Dynasty
* Ptolemy’s Support for Culture
* Seleucus Ruled the Asian Territories

Economy and Culture of the Hellenistic Period

Four major cities of the Hellenistic Period

Alexanderia
•Built by Alexander in 332 BCE.
•Becoming an important city in the world and a center of Greek culture within 100 years.

Pergamum
•Capital of Attalid kingdom.
•One of the most important and beautiful cities in the Hellenistic period.
•The Pergamum library was next only to the Alexanderia library in size and importance.

Antioch
•Established by Seleucus I in 330 BCE
•It was the western terminal point of trade from Asia to the Mediterrenean region.
•The third largest city (next to Rome and Alexanderia) of the Roman Empire, with temples, theaters, aquaducts and public baths.

Athens
•Declining in importance during the Hellenistic period, Athens often needed financial support from the other rulers.
•Rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty donated a statium next to the Theseus Temple.
•The Ptolemaic rulers offered their favorite god Isis in the temple in Athens.
•Athens remained a center for philosophy and culture along with Alexandria.

Trade Networks
•The Mediterrenean was joined with Indian Ocean
•India and East Africa were connected by ships following the mansoons
•Roads connected Asia Minor, Central Asia and India
•The central governments of each region maintained the roads with military garrisons to allow the merchants safe passage as well as to levy the trade taxes.
•“The Silk Road” began to take shape
•The main trading cities were Taxila, Bukhara, Merv, Palmyra, Antioch, Tyre, Alexandria, etc.

V. The Influence of Alexander’s Eastern Thrust
•There are estimated some 80 cities which were named Alexandria in today’s West and Central Asia.
•Many legends in the Persian speaking world are based on Alexander, corrupted to be Iskander and glorified in many literary works, e.g., Shahname by Firdausi (Firdevsi).
A. The Nature of Hellenistic Culture
•The Hellenistic culture in essence was a fusion of the Greek culture and the Asian cultures of the regions conquered by Alexander.
•Alexander was convinced that the Eastern peoples were not barbaric as Aristotle had taught him but cultured in their own way; he sought to fuse the two cultures by encouraging racial and cultural integration. For example, he married two Asian wives and began to wear Persian costumes. He also encouraged 9,000 Greek soldiers to take Perisan wives at a large wedding ceremony.
B.Bactria and Gandhara Culture
•Greek Rulers of Bactria
•Bactria was in today’s Afghanistan near Pakistan. The Greek generals who ruled this area became independent of the Seleucid rulers based in Damascus in 2nd century BCE.
•Buddhism which began in India was introduced to this area around this time.
•A majority of the Greek population in Bactria adopted Buddhism.
•Gandhara Art
•Buddhists in India originally did not images of Buddha, believing that it was impossible to portray him.
•However, the Buddhists in Bactria felt a need to worship Buddha with the human image. Hence, they applied the Greek sculpture and painting techniques to Buddha and other deities.
•This was the possible because Bactria was far away from the center of Buddhism.
•The Spread of Gandhara Art
•The Gandhara art spread to Central Asia and from there to China; it also propagated to Southeast Asia via the sea route.
•Exchange and fusion of different cultures have always existed; the appearance and spread of the Gandhara art is a case which can be clearly traced to its origin with documentary evidence and archeological findings.

HIST 48T Syllabus

Course on “China and the Silk Road” by H. K. Chang
Three routes have been connecting the east and west parts of Eurasia. In the north in ancient times, the nomadic peoples transferred goods, technologies and ideas across the Eurasian steppes. In the south, the sea-faring peoples along the coasts of China, East and Southeast Asia, India and South Arabia have created a sea route that carried people, goods as well as customs and ideas. Between the steppes and the sea routes, in a mostly arid zone, there is a network of land routes strung together by many oases and across many mountain passes. This is known as the Silk Road. It can be narrowly defined as a 10,000 km route that begins in Xi’an (or Chang’an) and ends in Istanbul (Constantinople).
The Silk Road was the most effective route of communication from 3rd century B.C.E. to 16th century C.E. Its importance declined drastically after the Europeans reached Asia by sea, thus dominating world commerce.
With energy issues and cultural-political conflicts being a focus of international attention, the Silk Road has regained its previous importance. With China re-emerging on the world stage, its historical connections to the western part of Eurasia should be of not only academic but also practical interest.

Course Outline
This course surveys China’s role in the Silk Road from the expeditions of Alexander the Great, through the medieval times of Mongol rule, down to the Russo-British rivalry in Central Asia in the 19th century. Important cultural as well as economic exchanges are emphasized.

It consists of twelve 2-period lectures followed by a 1-period discussion as follows:

Lecture 1 Alexander’s Eastward Thrust and the Buddhist Art
Lecture 2 Zhang Qian and Opening of the Silk Road
Lecture 3 Beauty of Loulan and the Tarim Basin During Han China
Lecture 4 Buddhist Monks on the Silk Road: Bringing Scriptures to China
Lecture 5 From Samarkand to Chang’an: The Itinerant Sogdians
Lecture 6 Battle of Talas: Turning-Point in Tang Influence
Lecture 7 Nestorians, Manicheans, Jews and Muslims in Tang and Sung China
Lecture 8 Mongol Rule: From Terror and Destruction to Law and Order
Lecture 9 Medieval Travelers: Marco Polo, Ibn Battutah and Wang Dayuan
Lecture 10 The Timurids: Turco-Persian Cultural Florescence
Lecture 11 Shah Ismail and Muhammad Shaybani: Facing the Changing Tide
Lecture 12 Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand: Sunset on the Silk Road

Course Material and Lectures
Graphical PowerPoint presentations with photo images will be the format of all lectures. The PowerPoint plus the assigned reading material will be mounted on a specially created course blog within 48 hours of each lecture.

Examinations and Grading
Students will be tested at the mid-term and final examinations on their familiarity and understanding of the material presented in the class.
In addition, each student is required to submit a term paper of about 2000 words based on a title and a bibliography pre-approved by the professor.
Grades will be assigned on the basis of three components: the mid-term exam weighing 35%, the final exam weighing 35% and the term-paper weighing 30%.